The safest place to store your vehicle during a storm is to keep it in a covered garage or away from trees that may damage it.Do not under any circumstance drive your vehicle through deep puddles of standing water.The reason is that the water in the intake system will get into the cylinders, but instead of the pistons compressing air, water causes pressure inside the engine to bend piston rods or even causing cracks in the engine block. Also, water can cause the gears in a transmission to slip.
Water can warp hot rotors on your brakes. And if water gets into your brake line, it can cause brake failure.
Water inside the vehicle can ruin carpets, upholstery and the foam in the seats. The water may also wreck havoc to computers and electronics installed in the floor board and/or under the seats.
What do you do if water has already damaged your vehicle? Don't start it up, leave it alone and call a mechanic. Then proceed to check with your insurance for flood coverage.
Sometimes, it isn't worthwhile to repair a severely water damaged vehicle. If that happens, weigh your options, from the cost to repair to the blue book value of the vehicle and it it isn't worth it, be prepared to walk away from it.
